CST STUDIO SUITE

2017 R

Supported GPU Hardware

1 Supported Hardware
CST STUDIO SUITE currently supports up to 8 GPU devices in a single host system,
meaning each number of GPU devices between 1 and 8 is supported.1

The following tables contain some basic information about the GPU hardware currently
supported by the GPU Computing feature of CST STUDIO SUITE, as well as the require-
ments for the host system equipped with the hardware. To ensure compatibility of GPU
hardware and host system please check

https://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla-qualified-servers.html

Please note that a 64 bit computer architecture is required for GPU Computing.
A general hardware recommendation can be found in the FAQ section of the CST support
website (FAQ No.3908).

1
It is strongly recommended to contact CST before purchasing a system with more than four GPU cards
to ensure that the hardware is working properly and is configured correctly for CST STUDIO SUITE.

June 14, 2017 2

 List of supported GPU hardware for CST STUDIO SUITE 2017 2 3
Card Name Series Platform Min. CST Version
Tesla P100-SXM2 (Chip) Pascal Servers 2017 release
Tesla P100-PCIE-16GB Pascal Servers 2017 release
Tesla P100 16GB Pascal Servers 2017 release
Tesla P100-PCIE-12GB Pascal Servers 2017 SP 2
Quadro P6000 4 Pascal Workstations 2017 SP 2
Quadro GP100 Pascal Workstations 2017 SP 2
4
Tesla M60 Maxwell Servers/Workst. 2016 SP 4
4
Tesla M40 Maxwell Servers 2016 SP 4
Quadro M6000 24GB 4 Maxwell Workstations 2016 SP 4
4
Quadro M6000 Maxwell Workstations 2015 SP 4
Tesla K80 Kepler Servers 2014 SP 6
Tesla K40 m/c/s/st/d/t Kepler Servers/Workst. 2013 SP 5
Quadro K6000 Kepler Workstations 2013 SP 4
Tesla K20X Kepler Servers 2013 release
Tesla K20m/K20c/K20s Kepler Servers/Workst. 2013 release
4
Tesla K10 Kepler Servers 2013 release
5
Quadro 6000 Fermi Workstations 2012 SP 6
5
Tesla Fermi M-Series Tesla 20/Fermi Servers 2011 SP 6
Tesla Fermi C-Series5 Tesla 20/Fermi Workstations 2011 SP 6
5
Tesla M1060 Tesla 10 Servers 2010 SP 4
5
Tesla C1060 Tesla 10 Workstations 2010 release
Quadro FX58005 Tesla 10 Workstations 2010 release
5
Quadro Plex 2200D2 Tesla 10 Workstations 2010 release

2
Please note that cards of different series (e.g. Maxwell and Pascal) cant be combined in a single
host system for GPU Computing.
3
Platform = Servers: These GPUs are only available with a passive cooling system which only provides
sufficient cooling if its used in combination with additional fans. These fans are usually available for server
chassis only!
Platform = Workstations: These GPUs provide active cooling, so they are suitable for workstation com-
puter chassis as well.
4
Important: The double precision performance of this GPU device is poor, thus, it cant be recom-
mended for PIC-solver and I-solver (double precision) simulations.
5
Important: This hardware is marked as deprecated and wont be supported in upcoming CST
STUDIO SUITE versions (2018 and newer).

June 14, 2017 3

 Hardware Type
NVIDIA Tesla
NVIDIA Tesla K20X
K20c/K20m/K20s
(for Servers)
(for Workst./Servers)

Min. CST version required 2013 release 2013 release

Number of GPUs 1 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 50 million mesh cells approx. 60 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual-Slot PCI-Express Dual Slot PCI-Express

Memory 5 GB GDDR5 6 GB GDDR5

Bandwidth 208 GB/s 250 GB/s

Single Precision Performance 3.52 TFlops 3.95 TFlops

Double Precision Performance 1.17 TFlops 1.32 TFlops

Power Consumption 225 W (max.) requires two 235 W (max.)

auxiliary power connectors

PCI Express Requirements 1x PCIe Gen 2 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 2 (x16 electrically)

1
Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

2
Min. RAM of Host System 24 GB 24 GB

1
Important: The specifications shown assume that only one adapter is plugged into the machine. If
you would like to plug in two or more adapters you will need a better power supply (1000W or above)
as well as more RAM. Additionally, you need to provide sufficient cooling for the machine. Each Tesla
card takes power from the PCI Express host bus as well as the 8-pin and the 6-pin PCI Express power
connectors. This is an important consideration while selecting power supplies.
2
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 4
 Hardware Type

NVIDIA Kepler K101

NVIDIA Quadro K6000
(for Servers)

Min. CST version required 2013 release 2013 SP 4

Number of GPUs 2 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 80 million mesh cells approx. 120 million cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual-Slot PCI-Express Dual Slot PCI-Express

Memory 8 GB GDDR5 12 GB GDDR5

Bandwidth 320 GB/s (160 GB/s per GPU) 288 GB/s

Single Precision Performance 4.6 TFlops 5.2 TFlops

Double Precision Performance 0.2 TFlops 1.7 TFlops

Power Consumption 225 W (max.) 225 W (max.)

PCI Express Requirements 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

2
Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

3
Min. RAM of Host System 32 GB 48 GB

1
The double precision performance of this GPU device is poor, thus, it cant be recom-
mended for PIC-solver, A-Solver and I-solver (double precision) simulations.
2
Important: The specifications shown assume that only one adapter is plugged into the machine. If
you would like to plug in two or more adapters you will need a better power supply (1000W or above)
as well as more RAM. Additionally, you need to provide a sufficient cooling for the machine. Each Tesla
card takes power from the PCI Express host bus as well as the 8-pin and the 6-pin PCI Express power
connectors. This is an important consideration while selecting power supplies.
3
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 5

 Hardware Type
NVIDIA Tesla
NVIDIA Tesla K80
K40m/K40c
(for Servers)
(for Servers/Workst.)

Min. CST version required 2013 SP 5 2014 SP 6

Number of GPUs 1 2

Max. Problem Size approx. 120 million mesh cells approx. 240 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual-Slot PCI-Express Dual Slot PCI-Express

Memory 12 GB GDDR5 24 GB GDDR5

Bandwidth 288 GB/s 480 GB/s (240 GB/s per GPU)

1
Single Precision Performance 5.04 TFlops 8.73 TFlops

1
Double Precision Performance 1.68 TFlops 2.91 TFlops

Power Consumption 225 W (max.) 300 W (max.)

PCI Express Requirements 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

2
Min. RAM of Host System 48 GB 96 GB

1
Measured with BOOST enabled
2
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 6

 Hardware Type

NVIDIA Tesla M601 NVIDIA Tesla M401

(for Servers/Workst.) (for Servers)

Min. CST version required 2016 SP 4 2016 SP 4

Number of GPUs 2 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 160 million mesh cells approx. 240 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual Slot PCI-Express

Dual-Slot PCI-Express
Passive Cooling

Memory 16 GB GDDR5 (8 GB x 2) 24 GB GDDR5

Bandwidth 320 GB/s (160 GB/s per GPU) 288 GB/s

Single Precision Performance 9.64 TFlops 6.84 TFlops

Double Precision Performance 0.301 TFlops 0.213 TFlops

Power Consumption 300 W (max.) 250 W (max.)

PCI Express Requirements 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

2
Min. RAM of Host System 64 GB 96 GB

1
The double precision performance of this GPU device is poor, thus, it cant be recom-
mended for PIC-solver, A-Solver and I-solver (double precision) simulations.
2
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 7

 Hardware Type
NVIDIA Tesla P100
NVIDIA Tesla P100 Chip
PCIe1
(for Servers)
(for Servers)

Min. CST version required 2017 release 2017 release

Number of GPUs 1 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 160 million mesh cells approx. 160 / 120 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Chip Dual-Slot PCI-Express

Passive Cooling Passive Cooling

Memory 16 GB CoWoS HBM2 16 / 12 GB CoWoS HBM2

Bandwidth 732 GB/s 732 GB/s / 549 GB/s

2
Single Precision Performance 10.6 TFlops 9.3 TFlops

2
Double Precision Performance 5.3 TFlops 4.7 TFlops

Power Consumption 300 W (max.) 250 W (max.)

System interface NVIDIA NVLink 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

3
Min. RAM of Host System 64 GB 64 GB

1
The 12 GB version has about 25 percent less performance compared to the 16 GB
version.
2
Measured with BOOST enabled
3
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 8

 Hardware Type

NVIDIA Quadro GP 100 NVIDIA Quadro P60001

(for Workstations) (for Workstations)

Min. CST version required 2017 SP 2 2017 SP 2

Number of GPUs 1 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 160 million mesh cells approx. 240 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual-Slot PCI-Express Dual-Slot PCI-Express

Memory 16 GB HBM2 24 GB GDDR5X

Bandwidth 720 GB/s 432 GB/s

2
Single Precision Performance 10.3 TFlops 12.0 TFlops

2
Double Precision Performance 5.2 TFlops 0.2 TFlops

Power Consumption 300 W (max.) 300 W (max.)

System interface 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

3
Min. RAM of Host System 64 GB 96 GB

1
The double precision performance of this GPU device is poor, thus, it cant be recom-
mended for PIC-solver, A-Solver and I-solver (double precision) simulations.
2
Measured with BOOST enabled
3
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 9

 Hardware Type
NVIDIA Quadro M6000
NVIDIA Quadro M60001
24 GB1
(for Workstations)
(for Workstations)

Min. CST version required 2015 SP 4 2016 SP 4

Number of GPUs 1 1

Max. Problem Size approx. 120 million mesh cells approx. 240 million mesh cells
(Transient Solver)

Form Factor Dual-Slot PCI-Express Dual Slot PCI-Express

Memory 12 GB GDDR5 24 GB GDDR5

Bandwidth 317 GB/s 317 GB/s

Single Precision Performance 6.8 TFlops 6.8 TFlops

Double Precision Performance 0.2 TFlops 0.2 TFlops

Power Consumption 300 W (max.) 300 W (max.)

PCI Express Requirements 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically) 1x PCIe Gen 3 (x16 electrically)

Power Supply of Host System min. 750 W min. 750 W

2
Min. RAM of Host System 48 GB 96 GB

1
The double precision performance of this GPU device is poor, thus, it cant be recom-
mended for PIC-solver, A-Solver and I-solver (double precision) simulations.
2
The host system requires approximately 4 times as much memory as is available on the GPU cards. Al-
though it is technically possible to use less memory than this recommendation, the simulation performance
of larger models will suffer.

CST assumes no liability for any problems caused by this information.

June 14, 2017 10